


of ghost stories and red blankets

by kiddolane



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Death, F/M, Suga and Mao are the biggest demons ever, Well there's a ghost story mentioned so of course death's gonna be involved somehow lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-14
Updated: 2016-03-14
Packaged: 2018-05-26 18:54:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6251617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiddolane/pseuds/kiddolane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yui and Daichi lose a bet, and as punishment, they must spend an entire night together in a house that's said to be haunted by a ghost.  Can the two of them make it through?</p>
            </blockquote>





	of ghost stories and red blankets

**Author's Note:**

> For [chromotps](http://chromotps.tumblr.com/), for the HQ Rare Pair Exchange. The moment I saw DaiYui as one of the pairs you had listed, I knew I just HAD to write about them! XD I know this wasn't any of the prompts you had requested, and I'm really sorry about that. But I hope you truly like what I have for you here.

Yui's trembling hands squeeze and twist the strap of her satchel. The leaves, dried by the autumn season, crunch beneath her feet as she walks the worn path to a large, decrepit house that sits by its lonesome on top of a hill.  
  
What on earth was she thinking, making the bet that she did? She should’ve done the sensible thing—like Chizuru, Azumane and Shimizu—and stayed out of it. But she got swept up by Mao and Sugawara’s unbridled enthusiasm (Tanaka and Nishinoya hadn’t helped matters), and before she knew it, she had placed a bet on Brazil to win the men’s international volleyball tournament final round. They’d been the winners the past three tournaments; surely, they would win this one too, right? It seemed so foolproof. And indeed, the final had been thrilling from beginning to end. But in an upset, Poland came from behind, winning the best of five sets, 3 to Brazil’s 1, making Brazil the runner-up. Yui had begged and pleaded to make the punishment light, but Mao and Sugawara already had their minds made up. She was to spend the entire night in this run-down, creepy house.  
  
Yui makes a note to herself to never let Mao and Sugawara within fifty feet of each other ever again.  
  
Though, it’s not _all_ bad. She swallows the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat when she spots someone else waiting by the entrance. The only other person who had lost the bet.  
  
Sawamura.  
  
Yui’s grip on her bag strap tightens even further, if that’s even possible. The thought of spending the night with Sawamura in the same room was already making her heart pound double time. She has a purple blanket packed in her bag. In her mind, she pictures laying it out on the floor; a lone candle between the two of them, the only light in the darkness; the draft in the house causing her and Sawamura to huddle closer and closer together until—  
  
Yui claps her hands to her face and squeals into them. She can’t even finish that mental image without potentially blowing a fuse. Sure, she wishes it was under better circumstances, but she would gladly take any alone time with Sawamura that she can get.  
  
Still, there is one thing that bothers her about all of this. Earlier that day, some of her teammates had seen the purple blanket in her bag. They knew all about the bet, and they made absolutely sure to poke fun at her crush on Sawamura until they had their fill. The interesting part came afterward.  
  
_“But you’re taking a purple blanket, though?” her second-year kouhai, Suzuya, had asked. “Good thing it isn’t red, otherwise you’d end up like Miyamoto Yurika.”_  
  
_“S-Suzuya-san, shh!” one of the first-years said in a panic._  
  
Yui frowns. The two girls had immediately left the room after that, and the conversation had ended right there. Now, she’s just confused. She’d never heard the name Miyamoto Yurika before. Who is that person? And why do they think Yui would be like her?  
  
The sight of Sawamura clear in her field of vision is more than enough to wipe those lingering thoughts out of her mind. Right now, he’s standing at the foot of the front porch, surveying the house with a serious gaze. As though sensing her presence, however, Sawamura turns in her direction, and that serious gaze immediately dissolves into such a soft smile that Yui feels herself dissolving along with it.  
  
“Ah, you’re here, Michimiya,” he greets.  
  
“Hi, um… uh… Sawamura!” Yui exclaims, mentally scolding herself afterwards for such a stupid mistake.  
  
Sawamura, however, chuckles. “Well, it’s good that you remember my name, at least.”  
  
“How long have you been waiting out here?”  
  
“Oh, I’d say about ten minutes or so. It hasn’t been that long. I was waiting for you. Ready to go in?”  
  
That question is an unwelcome reminder of where exactly Yui is as she shudders. “Sawamura, do we really have to? I don’t wanna do this. Why can’t we just hang out somewhere and just say we did it?”  
  
“Believe me, Michimiya, I’d love to do the same. But you know how they are. They have their ways of finding out.”  
  
Yui grumbles, knowing exactly who “they” are.  
  
Sawamura smiles, then rubs the back of his head in that nervous little tic of his. “Come on, it won’t be that bad. You’ll have me, right?”  
  
That causes an enormous blush to erupt on Yui’s face, and she has to turn away. Oh, why doesn’t Sawamura ever watch his words? “Y-Yeah. I will.”  
  
“Come on, let’s go in.”  
  
Yui counts to three, and before she knows it, they’re inside the house. The interior looks just as creepy as the exterior. Rotting wood everywhere. Dirt and cobwebs covering every corner and splayed all over the furniture (if it could even be called furniture anymore). The worst part? The sun is quickly setting into the horizon, shrouding this room in near total darkness. Yui can’t control her trembling any longer and she covers her face.  
  
“No, I can’t do this!”  
  
“It’s alright, Michimiya, it’s just a house, it’s not even as big as the outside made it look,” Sawamura is quick to reassure her. “Let’s just explore the house for a bit, okay?”  
  
Yui whips her head to Sawamura and looks at him as though he’s grown a second head. “Explore this place?! Are you crazy?!”  
  
“That’s exactly what I had in mind. Like I said, this house is not that big. Once we explore this house to the fullest, you’ll see that there’s nothing to be afraid of. Does that sound good?”  
  
Some of the tension loosens from Yui’s shoulders. “Actually… yeah, that does.”  
  
Sawamura grins. “Then what’re we waiting for?”  
  
With a renewed determination, they set forth on their destination. Sawamura had brought a candle with him and he holds it far out in front of them. Unfortunately, Sawamura had made this little journey sound way more ideal than Yui anticipated.  
  
Yui squeaks. “What was that?”  
  
“Oh, that was just the glass rattling on the windowpane. Looks like there’s a bit of a draft outside. I wouldn’t be surprised if the windows were loose enough for the wind to move it around.”  
  
Suddenly, there’s a creak behind them, and Yui whirls around. “Eek! What was that?”  
  
“It’s probably just a loose floorboard. You can never be too careful with those. You could fall through at any moment. But they’re just floorboards, Michimiya, don’t worry.”  
  
Then, Yui hears what sounds like scuttling, and she shrieks. “KYAAA, that was a mouse!”  
  
Sawamura laughs. “Don’t be silly, there aren’t any mice here.”  
  
“No, that was totally a mouse, I’m sure of it!”  
  
“Wow, you’re so jumpy tonight. I’d have half a mind to…”  
  
Whatever little jab he was going to say next dies on his lips the moment he looks at her. “H-Hey… Michimiya,” he says, far more gently. “Are you really that scared?”  
  
Yui feels tears budding in her eyes as she squeezes them shut and nods. She feels so dumb acting like this in front of Sawamura. She wanted to badly to show him her brave side, but in this moment, that brave side is halfway on the other side of the world.  
  
Her self-defeating thoughts come to an abrupt halt, however, when she feels a strong arm loop through hers. Surprised, she looks up to see Sawamura with a concerned expression. “I’m sorry, Michimiya, I wasn’t thinking. Go ahead and grab on. If you’re really that scared, we’ll just go back to the living room area and stay there. Is that okay?”  
  
Yui ducks her head, both out of shame that she made Sawamura feel bad and out of embarrassment at such an intimate proximity. Not trusting her voice at the moment, she simply nods, and they start walking.  
  
“I don’t know what I was thinking back there,” Sawamura continues. “I just wanted to make sure you’d be safe. I’m so sorry that I put you through—AHH!!”  
  
Yui startles from Sawamura’s scream as he suddenly gets several inches shorter. “Sawamura?!”  
  
“Agh, I’m okay, I’m fine. Just stepped on a loose floorboard. Heh, told you you can never be too careful with them,” he responds, smiling apologetically. Yui can’t help but giggle as she looks down at his left leg, caught in the hole with the wood up to his knee. With all of her strength, Yui helps pull him out successfully, but Sawamura winces right afterward.  
  
“Does it hurt?”  
  
“Yeah, it kinda smarts a little.”  
  
Yui looks down at Sawamura’s leg and gasps. “Your leg, it’s got a pretty bad gash on it! Come on, let’s get you over to the living room, quick!”  
  
Yui is surprised at her own newfound initiative, but whatever it takes to make sure Sawamura is safe. Once they’re in the living room, Yui picks up the bag that she had left by the door before they went exploring.  
  
“I had a feeling something like this would happen, so I brought a mini first-aid kit,” she explains. “First, we’ve gotta sit… down.” She trails off as she looks at the available “furniture” and cringes. Without thinking twice, she pulls out the purple blanket from her bag and lays it out on the floor. All of her romantic thoughts about snuggling with Sawamura are pushed to the backburner as she orders him to sit, which he does without question. Yui sits opposite him, and she immediately sets to work on examining his leg. Upon closer inspection, she’s relieved to find that the cut on his shin isn’t as bad as she had initially thought it was. She opens up the kit at her side and takes out some alcohol swabs and bandages. Carefully, she dabs at Sawamura’s cut. Sawamura lets out a low hiss, but other than that, he’s completely silent.  
  
But now that the urgency of treating Sawamura’s wound has blown over, the full magnitude of Yui is doing finally hits her.  
  
She’s touching his leg. His bare, toned leg.  
  
He’s wearing shorts, so that just makes the intimacy even more pronounced. Yui feels her face grow warmer the longer her hands remain on his skin, but she continues to work diligently. For just a brief second, she dares look up at Sawamura’s face, only to find him turned away, looking awfully fascinated with the wall.  
  
Wait… is he blushing?  
  
Nah, that’s probably just her imagination. She turns her attention back to his wound before she could get a more conclusive look. This moment is awkward enough as it is.  
  
Finally (more like mercifully), she finishes treating his wound as she applies the bandaid. “There. All done!” she chirps, though she inwardly cringes at how fake it sounds.  
  
“Thanks,” Sawamura grunts in response, still focused intently on the wall. Yui moves away to give him some space (although she deeply starts to miss his warmth), and they sit on the blanket in silence, a weird tension rising between the two of them that Yui can’t quite place. Pretty soon, the quiet becomes suffocating for her, and she finds herself fumbling desperately for something to talk about to break it.  
  
“How are you so calm right now, Sawamura?” she finally asks. “If Mao and Sugawara weren’t so stubborn about this stupid bet, I’d have hightailed it out of here a long time ago!”  
  
Sawamura chuckles, a deep, steady baritone that Yui doesn’t think she’ll ever get tired of. “I guess it’s because as creepy as this house is, that’s all it is. Just a bunch of wood, nothing more.”  
  
“But what about all the bugs and spiders and stuff? None of that scares you?”  
  
“Well, I do live in the more rural side of town, so I see these kinds of bugs all the time. I guess I’ve just gotten desensitized to them.”  
  
Yui hugs her knees to her chin to hide the goofy smile that threatens to stretch her whole face. That answer was just so… _Sawamura_ , she hadn’t expected anything else. She groans internally. When did her feelings for Sawamura become so strong? To the point where even the sound of his chuckling was enough to send her into a perpetual state of giddiness? She feels her face burning just thinking about it.  
  
“Besides,” Sawamura continues, “all this house has going for it is that Miyamoto Yurika story, but those kinds of urban legends never really had any effect on me.”  
  
There it is, that name again. That’s the second time she’s heard that name in the span of a full day, and it’s really starting to get under her skin.  
  
“I heard my teammates talking about that person yesterday. Who is she?”  
  
Sawamura blinks at her. “Miyamoto Yurika? Oh, it’s just a myth, I wouldn’t worry about it.” Yui’s impatience must have been apparent on her face, however, because Sawamura falters the moment he looks at her. “B-But, um, if you really want to know the story, I’ll tell you!  
  
“Supposedly, Miyamoto Yurika was a lonely teenage girl. Her parents died when she was very young, and no one else in her extended family wanted to take her in, so she spent her days in a run-down orphanage that also seemed to deny her very existence. She still went to public school, but she had a lot of trouble making friends, and even more trouble finding a boyfriend. At one point, she fell in love with a boy who was the star player of the school soccer team. He got good grades, he was popular with the students and the teachers; he was just a model student all around. Miyamoto loved him so much, but she felt like he was out of her league, so she only loved him from a distance.  
  
“Apparently, her feelings were far more transparent than she realized because one day, that boy went up to her and asked her out. Miyamoto couldn’t believe it. In the five weeks that they dated, she asked him over and over if it was a dream. The boy laughed every time and assured her it was very real. One day, the boy got an idea. He told Miyamoto to come to this house because there was a clear unobstructed view of the stars at night. He told her to wait there for him, and he would come for her and watch the stars by her side. So, equipped with only a red blanket and the clothes on her back, Miyamoto came to this house. She had been swayed by the romantic imagery of the starry sky, but she refused to go outside and see them until the boy arrived.  
  
“Well, the entire night passed by, and he never came. She was convinced that he just forgot, or that something happened to him, so she continued to wait in this house. Days, weeks, even months went by, and still no sign of him. And since she never had much of a presence with the rest of society, nobody ever went out and looked for her. By that time, she knew full well that she had been tricked, and she knew full well just how unloved she truly was. Rather than go back to those places and be reminded of her unimportance, she chose to live out the rest of her days in this house with only minimal food and water and that red blanket. She was well aware that that red blanket was a harsh reminder of the time when she still believed she was a worthwhile person, but it was her only means of keeping warm, long after her heart had frozen over. She had knitted that blanket because she had wanted to share it with the love of her life, to keep them huddled together as they watched the stars. She died a few months later, a heartbroken woman. She swore revenge on behalf of girls with unrequited love and haunted the boys they loved but who didn't love them. It is said that today she still roams around this house, yearning to find the love she never had and to finally watch the stars, the one dream she was never able to fulfill.”  
  
Sawamura stares off into the distance with a somber gaze as he finishes the story. Yui, however, turns her gaze to the floor. She thinks about the story and ties it back to her teammates’ words that day.  
  
_“Good thing it isn’t red, otherwise you’d end up like Miyamoto Yurika.”_  
  
_“S-Suzuya-san, shh!”_  
  
Yui’s eyes fill with tears. She knows her teammates were just joking and that they didn’t mean anything by it. If anything, they were probably just referencing the blanket she was packing. But still… is that how they see her feelings for Sawamura? As something tragic and doomed to never see the light of day? When she looks at it in this light, it makes all of her previous interactions with Sawamura unbearable. All the times she wished he would look at her as though she were special; the times she would reach out for his hand, only for him to (obliviously) move it away at the last second; all the times he would take her in his arms and spin her around in the air, just for her to wake up and realize it was all a dream.  
  
Maybe this is a sign. Maybe this is the universe trying to tell her that only bad things will happen if she continues to love Sawamura. Maybe it is for the best that she move on before her heart becomes irreparably broken. Someone else will come along who’d be able to provide the love she craves, she’s sure of it. But…  
  
But…  
  
The knowledge that that person _won’t_ be Sawamura is just too painful…  
  
“Ah! M-Michimiya, don’t cry!” Sawamura stammers, arms flailing in a panic. “I know it’s a sad story, but I told you, it’s just an urban legend! I-It’s probably not even true!”  
  
Yui has to laugh. Sawamura is just too adorable whenever he’s tripping over himself for her. “It’s not that, it’s just… this is gonna sound really silly, but… I’m just scared that the same thing’s gonna happen to me…”  
  
Sawamura falls quiet, and Yui can’t bring herself to look at him. Now that she’s said it out loud, it all seems so foolish. Only she would end up crying over some dumb ghost story.  
  
Finally, Sawamura sighs. “Michimiya, that’s ridiculous. There is absolutely no reason to believe that whoever you fall in love with would leave you behind. You're brave, passionate, beautiful, and any guy would be _crazy_ to ever abandon you!”  
  
Yui smiles despite herself. Of course Sawamura would never laugh at her. It’s just like him to treat her problems, no matter how silly or trivial, with the utmost seriousness. He’d been doing that for years, even when they were in middle school, and she wouldn’t have him any other way. If only he knew _he_ was the one who was “abandoning” her…  
  
“...I'd never abandon you.”  
  
Yui looks up at Sawamura in shock, in time to find him sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.  
  
“Yeah, heh, I guess that's out of the bag, huh?” he asks, smiling at her apologetically. But then, he sobers up and gazes at her directly. “But it’s true. I like you, Michimiya. I don't know when exactly I realized it, but by the time I did, I was too far gone. I'm sorry if this ruins things for us, that's not what I want at all. But I can't hide it anymore, I understand if you hate me. Heh, I just hope this Miyamoto story doesn't work for guys too.”  
  
Sawamura chuckles at his own little joke, but it’s cut short when Yui launches herself at him, bowling him over in a hug.  
  
“M-M-Michimi—”  
  
“Sawamura, I've liked you for ages!”  
  
Sawamura turns an adorable shade of red. “Eh?! R-Really?!”  
  
She lightly punches him in the shoulder. “ _Yes_ , you dumb potato! Why didn't you ever notice?”  
  
“Why didn't you?”  
  
Yui laughs. “'Cause I'm a dumb potato too!”  
  
She hops to her feet, and with a great strength that belies her tiny frame, yanks Sawamura up by his hands, nearly throwing him off balance. “Come on! Let’s go outside! Maybe that part about the starry sky is true!”  
  
With a firm grip around Sawamura’s wrist, Yui practically skips to the back door of the house, her steps the lightest and springiest they’ve felt in a long time. She chances a glance behind her shoulder and catches Sawamura smiling back at her, soft and fond, and her breath catches in her throat.  
  
But when they finally make it outside, she just stops breathing altogether.  
  
Stars. Entire clusters of them scattered across the sky. Even without the presence of the moon, these stars are bright and numerous enough to illuminate all of the trees and hills surrounding them. The white, twinkling spots are a stark contrast to the inky blackness of the night, the light shining so brightly that the once-encompassing black has given way to streaks of sapphire blue and even hints of light green. Yui glances over at Sawamura beside her, and her heart skips a beat. He’s staring up at the sky with the same awestruck expression that Yui is positive is on her face too. But the light from the stars has enveloped him in white, giving him a soft, almost fluorescent glow. In fact, everything around them has this ethereal aura, as if the heavens created a real life dream world only meant for the two of them. Yui stares at every inch of this landscape that her eyes can take in, etching every minute detail into her memory to keep with her for the rest of her life.  
  
“Sawamura,” Yui whispers, overwhelmed. “It’s… everything… it’s just… so beautiful.”  
  
“Yeah. It is beautiful,” he responds, equally as breathless. Then, he turns to her and locks eyes with her in an intense gaze. “Everything.”  
  
Yui holds his gaze, hypnotized by the moment, and she finds herself drawing closer to him. Sawamura is closing in as well, until their lips finally meet in a chaste kiss. And just like that, everything else fizzles away, that one spot of shared warmth the only thing that feels real in that moment. A perfect cap to a perfect night.  
  


\--

Yui barely cracks an eye open before the morning sunlight attacks her vision, and she has to squeeze it shut again. It had seemed like a good idea at the time to sleep underneath that majestic night sky, but the harsh glare of the sunlight seems bent on making her regret that decision.

The sound of steady breathing beside her is enough to calm her down again. Combined with the warm puffs of air fanning against her cheek and the light weight of his arm wrapped around her chest, Sawamura is like a soothing balm that nearly manages to lull her back into the sleeping world.

Unfortunately, that was not meant to be. A wolf whistle rips through the peaceful quiet, startling them both awake. They twist their heads up to see Sugawara and Mao stepping out of the back entrance of the house and making their way over.

“Well, well,” Sugawara drawls slyly. “Looks like the newlyweds have finally woken up.”

“Yup, sure seems like it,” Mao replies, then smirks down at Sawamura. “How's her morning breath, Sawamura?”

“M-Mao!” Yui sputters out, her face going from zero to tomato in an instant.

“Seriously, why’d you guys decide to sleep out here?” Mao asks. “Was it really that bad inside?”

“No. Well… yes, it was, but the sky was just so beautiful last night that we just… wanted to spend more time with it.”

Mao narrows her eyes. “Y’all are weird.”

Yui is about to make a snappy comeback when Sugawara chuckles. “Well, come on, you guys beat the dare. Everyone's waiting for you out front. We'll take you out for breakfast. Our treat.”

Yui and Sawamura start getting ready to follow Sugawara and Mao when Sawamura picks up the blanket that’s draped over them. “Here's your blanket, Michimiya.”

Yui, however, blinks at it in confusion. “Eh? That's not mine. We slept on mine, remember?” she says, gesturing at the purple sheet underneath them to prove her point.

Sawamura frowns. “Well, it's not mine, I didn't bring one. Hey, Suga, did you or Aihara bring this?”

Sugawara comes back outside and looks at the blanket in question. “Huh? Neither of us brought that. It was already on you guys when we got here. Why?”

They’re about to ask more questions when Mao pops her head out the doorway. “Come on, you guys, hurry it up! I'm starving!”

“Well, we’ll talk about it later,” Sugawara says, waving off the conversation. “Let’s go before Aihara starts getting cranky.”

With that, he jogs off, leaving Yui and Sawamura alone in their confusion. They look down at the unknown blanket once more. Then, they notice the color of the blanket, and they both reach the same conclusion at the same time.

The blanket is red.

No. It couldn’t be. But maybe…?

They look up at each other, wearing identical expressions of shock. Then, it gives way to laughter, shared only between the two of them, growing louder and warmer every second.

It’s not every day that one receives an otherworldly blessing, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Ooh, mysterious! :o What do you think? Was it really the work of Miyamoto Yurika? Was it just Suga and/or Mao messing with them? Interpret it however you wish. ;)


End file.
